This, this, this …
No wonder the supporting male wanted to crush the gift into a cloth. It must have hurt his eyes because of the pair of mandarin ducks, right?
Thinking about how a woman he'd only met twice had given him a mandarin duck sachet, not saying it out loud was already very generous.
Bai Xiangxiu wanted to cry, really wanted to cry.
How could she be so stupid? What should she do now?
She picked up the cloth bag again, but the person behind the desk wasn't willing. He put down the book and asked, "What is it?"
She received the gift halfway, but seeing that the male lead had discovered it, she could only silently put it back on the desk. However, her thoughts were too complicated, and she didn't know how to react.
In addition, the male lead's peach blossom eyes glanced at her, and she immediately had no idea what to do. Her voice trembled as she said, "This, this is for you. I'm leaving …" In her panic, she even forgot to call herself this concubine, and turned to run.
Xiao Shi followed behind, completely unaware of what was going on. Seeing her master run away, she ran out, saying as she ran, "Master, please slow down. Be careful not to fall."
"So careless, what a scandal!" But looking at the small gray cloth bag on the desk, he felt it was very strange. What had she given him?
He originally felt that she was lacking etiquette, but looking at the things on the desk, he couldn't blame her.
The servant on the side was also puzzled. Why did she run away?
But seeing his master staring at the gray cloth bag, he couldn't help but say, "Prince, this should be a gift from Mistress Xiu. Why don't you take a look and see what it is?"
Who would give a gray bag as a gift? Shouldn't it be a sachet or something?
"Gift?" So she'd come to give him a gift, then run away because she was shy?
Long Heng's mind automatically filled in the gaps as he slowly opened the cloth bag.
He saw that there was actually a handmade bookmark inside. It had a beautiful wooden base, and there were a few flower petals and beautiful green leaves arranged to form a very beautiful picture. There were also two lines of poetry written below, and it was actually red.
The handwriting was average, but the poetry was excellent.
"Old books are never tired of being read a hundred times, only those who are familiar with them will know."
He was startled for a moment. Ever since he came back, the three madams had been bothering him quite a bit. They would either bring him soup or scented sachets that they had made themselves, but he would throw them away on the spot after receiving them.
Being in the army all year round, the most annoying thing was those messy fragrances.
Besides, those soups were either ginseng or very nutritious. He was healthy, so wasn't he afraid that his body wouldn't be able to take it?
Therefore, he couldn't be bothered with those things.
Only this one looked elegant and could be used when reading.
Most importantly, Xiao Shi was good. She was very meaningful to him.
The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He didn't expect her gift to be smarter than the other three women.
But, didn't other women wait for him to dote on them shyly after they were sent to him?
Why did she run away?
"Madame Xiu's face is really thin …" How could the servant not see that his master liked Madame Xiu? Thus, he casually put in a good word about Madame Xiu.
Thinking about how bold she was just now, she didn't seem to be thin-skinned at all. Could it be that she was just faking it?
But he also knew a little about the men and women in the big house. If he adapted to his master's wishes, there would always be benefits.
As expected, Long Heng was happy. The young girl was thin-skinned, yet she still gave him a gift. She was clearly trying to curry favor with him!
As a man, he stiffly raised the corner of his mouth when he was flattered by a woman who had a good impression of him. However, he immediately returned to normal.
Thus, he said, "Xiao Shi is not bad, but her handwriting needs to be practiced.
Go tell the mama outside to tell her that she needs to practice her handwriting. "
Uh, how could he be like this? She gave you a gift, and you want her to practice her handwriting?
The servant smiled and said, "Prince, it's rare for Madame Xiu to have such thoughts. You can't not express anything, can you?"
"Express?" Long Heng glared at him. The servant immediately chuckled and lowered his head.
"It's just a useless thing. Forget it, let the mama tell her that This King has an appointment outside today. Tomorrow night … he'll go to her place." After speaking, he coughed lightly and said sternly, "Why aren't you leaving? Are you waiting for This King to say it a second time?"
The servant's entire body trembled, then he immediately ran out in response.
No wonder this person didn't want to return the gift. It turned out that he wanted to give himself to Madame Xiu. This gift was truly much better than the others.
Long Heng didn't express anything, but Bai Xiangxiu was extremely depressed when she received this message.
Wasn't it just a gift? Why did he have to come over tomorrow night?
What else could he do if he came over? Rolling in the sheets was unavoidable!
What about a gift in return? Couldn't he give her money? She loved money the most, alright?
If she failed to seduce the male lead and was sent out, she would still need money to live, alright?
As for such a terrifying existence like the male lead, she really should avoid him as much as possible. Why did he have to come over?
She didn't understand. She really didn't understand.
She hugged her head, feeling hopeless.
Xiao Shi curiously helped her up and asked, "Madame Xiu, do you have a headache?"
"Un, my head hurts a lot." She was going to die from the pain.
Xiao Shi helped her onto the bed, then asked curiously, "Did the Prince forget that he has to accompany the Old Madame to Long Hua Temple to burn incense tomorrow?"
"Burn incense?
Are you sure it's tomorrow? "
Tomorrow was Long Hua Temple's Great Buddha Day. The Great Buddha Day that had been donated by various nobles had already been completed. These nobles had been invited to participate in the consecration ceremony.
If it hadn't happened, she really would have forgotten about this matter. The main plot seemed to have completely begun here. The female lead had used this opportunity to escape, and had ended up messing up the consecration ceremony.
Similarly, the concubines hadn't been invited, so Bai Xiangxiu wasn't in a hurry. She planned to wait here and watch them make a fuss.
Of course, she hadn't expected that the male lead would be brought over this time. She already felt that she was very lucky.
Finally, she was able to escape from the hands of the male lead, whose hormones were running wild.
She just didn't understand why such a small gift could turn his strong heart towards the female lead. Was it because of this?
That was too easy.
But from tomorrow onwards, she didn't have to worry, because the female lead's escape had challenged his strong self-esteem.
Since then, she had been constantly on his mind, and he had been thinking about how to catch her.
With one grabbing and the other escaping, they slowly became a pair of enemies who had no grudges against each other.
As long as they were entangled together, it was fine. But if the female lead didn't leave, it would be even better. That way, he wouldn't have time to tangle with her.
Because she didn't have to receive the Prince tomorrow and think of a way to protect her chastity from him, she slept soundly at night. However, the other person drank with those people until midnight before returning.
When men gathered to drink, it was very rare for them not to drink too much, so Long Heng was almost supported into the room by others.
He rubbed his head and said, "Did something happen in the manor?"
"Nothing, it's just that the Old Madame asked when we're leaving tomorrow." The head maidservant Ruyi beside him said as she handed over the hangover soup.
"Tomorrow?" He seemed to have forgotten something.
"Tomorrow is the day to go to Long Hua Temple to worship the Great Buddha. Didn't you promise to accompany the Old Madame?" Ruyi said with a smile.
That's right, he had to go to Long Hua Temple tomorrow, but he had actually forgotten about it.
However, he seemed to remember that he had something else to do tomorrow.
That's right, he had promised that woman that he would go to her room.
The journey to Long Hua Temple tomorrow wasn't short, so he would probably have to rest in the temple.
Then, wouldn't he be speaking empty words?
A man speaking empty words to a woman was truly a loss of face. He couldn't help but frown and say, "Go to Winter Courtyard and tell Madame Xiu to prepare. She'll go with me tomorrow."
Since she couldn't go, having her go with him would be a consolation. After all, the women in the inner courtyard only went out a few times a year.